Springboks captain Jean de Villiers has won his race to be fit in time to be named in South Africa’s Rugby World Cup squad.
Coach Heyneke Meyer has chosen an experienced group for this year's tournament in England, including nine players from the squad that won the 2007 competition in France.
Lock Victor Matfield and back row Schalk Burger will take part in their fourth World Cup, while De Villiers, working his way back from a fractured jaw, Bryan Habana, JP Pietersen, Ruan Pienaar, Fourie du Preez, and brothers Bismarck and Jannie du Plessis, will play in their third.
Meyer did spring a surprise with the only uncapped player in his selection, scrum-half Rudy Paige who has not featured at all in his squads this year.
"Every single player in our wider group worked incredibly hard and to cut the squad to 31 was probably the most difficult selection I've faced in my coaching career," Meyer said.
"In the end, the selectors decided the 31 players named were the best we have at the moment but that is not to say any of the others won't have a role to play, with injuries a reality in our game."
Meyer said at the forefront of his thinking was to take players who can feature in multiple positions.
"Because of the size of the squad, we also had to give more consideration to utility players, who can move around between positions, such as (hooker) Schalk Brits and (lock) Pieter-Steph du Toit, both of whom can play in the back row, as well as Coenie Oosthuizen, who can pack down on both sides of the front row,” he noted.
"A number of our backs, such as JP, Ruan, Pat Lambie, Handre Pollard, Damian de Allende, Jesse Kriel, Lwazi Mvovo and Zane Kirchner, are all comfortable to play in more than one position."
Meyer believes having experience in the squad is also a key factor, especially when he could call on so many previous World Cup winners.
"A lot of our players featured in 2007 and 2011 and will know what it takes to succeed. There is a lot of talk about the permutations for the quarter-finals, but our aim is only on the first game," he said.
The Rugby World Cup takes place in England between 18 September and 31 October. South Africa are in Pool B alongside Samoa, Japan, Scotland and the USA.
